[Andykong]

I agree with your characterization of the Susvara with the HA-300. It was a very brief listen with the Susvara with the HA-300 at a CanJam that convinced me to get this amp.

And I like the TC even more than the Susvara with the HA-300, actually. For me, the TC retains its big and dynamic sound with the HA-300, but also gains a smoother / less coarse midrange presentation, which in my opinion the TC sorely needs. And nice and full-bodied as well, which is also something the TC can lack in the midrange on setups that are too "neutral". I've listened to the TC and the Susvara on the HA-300 on and off for about 2+ years now.

Additionally, I've not heard a dynamic headphone I didn't like on the HA-300. I've listened to the Stellia, Denon D9200, Utopia, and ZMF Auteur, all at some length.

The last thing I'd say as part of a summary of my time with this amp is that it's universally well-received by audiophile pals when they come and visit to listen to what I've got.

I can proudly claim that versatility to mix and match with different headphones is one of the common strength of Cayin headphone amplifiers. From iHA-6 to HA-6A and to our flagship HA-300, each of these headphone amplifiers are well-received to sound decent with almost anything that plug into it. Our HA-1AMK2 probably is the least flexible in our desktop lineup, but that is in relative terms. There can be some settings (or tube rolling) to deal with, but the flexibility is amazing.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience of HA300 with Susvara and 1266 TC. To generalise from your sharing, if someone owns the TC and is looking for an amplifier to make up for certain sound signature requirements, the HA-300 become a very good alternative. This is a new perspective to me, I am glad that you have bring this up.

 

[Benny-x]

As I mentioned previously, we have completed R&D already and is proceeding to production planning, trial run and supply chain. Pure power amplifier mode will not be featured in the HA-300 MK2.

If we have to implement a pure power amplifier mode, we don't just bypass the volume control, the situation is a lot more complicated than only bypassing the volume knob. We need to bypass the first gain stage as well because the pre-amp output and line-level out of DAC are very different in voltage level. The sound signature of the HA-300 will be significantly changed if we bypassed the 6SN7, and likewise if we implement similar feature to the MK2.

Thanks for the reply, Andy. I really appreciate how hands on you are here with everyone's different comments here.

If you could give me/us some advice, what's the best way to run the HA-300 if you're using it with a preamp and if all of the volume control will be done upstream via the preamp or if someone digitally reduces the volume in their system before the DAC?

Is it just simply turn the volume all the way up and then the pot is "bypassed"? I get that that's a simplistic way to say it and you've got to be careful about sending too high a signal into the amp that way, but let's just say that we're being careful and that whatever the amp is passing to the connected headphones/speakers isn't going to hurt them or our ears.

 

[Benny-x]

I can proudly claim that versatility to mix and match with different headphones is one of the common strength of Cayin headphone amplifiers. From iHA-6 to HA-6A and to our flagship HA-300, each of these headphone amplifiers are well-received to sound decent with almost anything that plug into it. Our HA-1AMK2 probably is the least flexible in our desktop lineup, but that is in relative terms. There can be some settings (or tube rolling) to deal with, but the flexibility is amazing.

Thank you very much for sharing your experience of HA300 with Susvara and 1266 TC. To generalise from your sharing, if someone owns the TC and is looking for an amplifier to make up for certain sound signature requirements, the HA-300 become a very good alternative. This is a new perspective to me, I am glad that you have bring this up.

That's actually been a long discussed aspect of amp matching with the TC/1266. Probably it's greatest weakness are the mids, so finding a mid-centric amp to pair it with can help fill in part of the picture, pending that pairing doesn't have too many other tradeoffs.

I don't have a TC yet, but I'm very much looking forward to trying them once I do. Hopefully on the list for next year, maybe with an HA-300mk2 upgrade~

 

[Yggy]

Absolutely love my Cayin HA-300 amp. I run it from a Melco N1ZS MKII EX to an Yggdrasil A2 with Unison USB and through Susvaras. Rolled a pair of NOS Sylvania 6SN7W metal bases which took things up a gear and have a pair of WE300B new production tubes on order.

I tried a Cayin CS-100DAC in the week, it didn’t sound good to my ears. The tube sound, in particular, lacked punch and detail. It was smooth and polite but flat and lifeless. Probably a reflection on how good the Yggdrasil is for the money with a good USB source or how my ears have got used to its more forward, bigger, and holographic sound.

Has anybody tried the HA-300 with a Denafrips Terminator or Terminator Plus? I have a Terminator 2 on order. Hoping that will be a worthwhile upgrade for the Yggdrasil. The guy I bought my Yggdrasil from had upgraded to a Terminator and raved about it.

 

[Yggy]

New production WE300b tubes are an excellent upgrade for the HA-300. They sounded slightly odd for a few minutes because my ears were accustomed to the less tubey TJ Full Music 300b sound, instruments sounded more forward, and vocals more recessed. But after a few minutes I realised they were more detailed and lush than the stock tubes and I was hooked.

I considered Takatsuki 300b tubes but they were slightly more expensive and didn’t have the Western Electric 5 year warranty. I’m also a bit wary of anything tuned for Japanese audiophile ears. I worry I’d find it too analytical and polite.

I read a lot about PSVane Acme 300b tubes, they seemed like the best “budget” option. They were about half the price of the new production WE300b tubes but had less than half the warranty period so I wondered if that was a false economy, considering the lingering concerns about Chinese tube longevity.

I’m fine buying Chinese, it’s a good way of maximising the bang for your buck in a high end market that can be ridiculously overpriced but I take a lot of convincing. Once convinced, I’m evangelical. I love my HiSusvara headphone. They are sublime and super comfortable. However, the quality is still questionable, the original (very soft and luxurious feeling) sheep skin ear pads fell apart within 100 hours of listening and I was handling them like a baby and storing them in a Hifiman hard case.

I switched the stock RCA 22DE4 tubes for a quad matched set of General Electric NOS 22DE4s from eBay for under USD 100. Hard to hear much of an improvement but I prefer them to the stock tubes, just.

NOS Sylvania 6SN7W metal bases and new production WE300b tubes really do turn the HA-300 into a different amp. The stock tubes are excellent, and on one level it’s ridiculous to spend 2/3 of what the HA-300 cost used upgrading all the tubes but a tube amp can only be as good as it’s tubes, however well designed it is.

Can’t wait for my Denafrips Terminator 2 to ship. Hopefully, will be any time now. Difficult to believe anything can sound as good as a permanently on Yggdrasil A2 with Unison USB fed hi res from a high end source without breaking the bank but from what I’ve read, it will. What a DAC the Yggy is though for the money. The guys at Schiit deserve a Nobel prize for services to affordable audiophilia.

 

[Yassa]

We are indeed working on a revision of HA-300. We have completed the R&D process recently and is planning for production. Normally this will take 2-3 months as we need to develop the supply chain and safety certification etc.. If everything go smooth, we should be able to deliver the new generation of HA-300 by end of year. We hope the epidemic will become stable in next few months. If not, we might suffer serious logistic and supplier delays and put everything on hold. That's why we are skeptical to announce the new HA-300 officially.

I was going to purchase HA-300 as my first tube amp in November. Extremely happy I waited, thank you for confirming the update @Andykong.

 

[rmsanger]

@Andykong do you think this will be available to purchase in December on possibly shipping Jan ‘22 or is that to optimistic for timing?

also any sneak peaks In Mk2 improvements? Do you think mk2 will be better pairing with PhI TC?

sorry to dig but I need something To keep from buying a burson soloist 3GT

 

[Yggy]

If I had Abyss 1266 Phi TC headphones, I’d get the Audiovalve Solista amp. Only downside is you can’t roll the tubes without invalidating your warranty.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/au...i-function-headphones-amplifier.24443/reviews

 

[Yggy]

 

[Yggy]

The blue glow of new production Western Electric 300b tubes in my Cayin HA-300. Shot in a dark room with an iPhone 12 Pro Max in night mode.

 

[Fegefeuer]

Audiovalve is not a good buy at the moment given their situation.

 

[Nicolas Yance]

The blue glow of new production Western Electric 300b tubes in my Cayin HA-300. Shot in a dark room with an iPhone 12 Pro Max in night mode.

They look really good. How do they sound?

 

[rmsanger]

If I had Abyss 1266 Phi TC headphones, I’d get the Audiovalve Solista amp. Only downside is you can’t roll the tubes without invalidating your warranty.

https://www.head-fi.org/showcase/au...i-function-headphones-amplifier.24443/reviews

thanks but hard pass on Audiovalve products... general feedback is they are swiss army knife of tube fine at many things but not great at any. Appreciate the suggestion though!

 

[Yggy]

They look really good. How do they sound?

More tubey than the TJ Full Music stock 300b tubes. Lush, romantic, rich, ethereal, euphonic, more detailed, comfort food for your ears.

I’m listening to You Want It Darker by Leonard Cohen and they make his deep, growly, almost spoken voice sound sublime.

They beautify well recorded hi res vocals, acoustic music, and bass heavy modern pop and electronic music, in particular.

 

[rsbrsvp]

For those who have heard the WA33, how much better is it than the HA-300? I Know the price difference is huge- but I still want to know- how close I get for a lot less...